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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Swiss Vote to Ban Mosque Minarets

Have the Swiss finally found their long missing backbone. It seems maybe they have, although liberal political leaders in that country oppose this ban which is clearly the supported by the general public. Sound familiar doesn't it. Recent polls had show that this measure would fail, but on election day the Swiss voted overwhelmingly to ban the construction of future mosque minarets. The people have spoken and the progressive political parties in Switzerland have suffered a stunning defeat. It does seem that when the man on the street gets to vote the outcome is often very different than that when only the politicians vote. Congratulations Switzerland for coming out of the stupor of political correctness and seeing the onrushing threat of Islam.Swiss Vote to Ban Mosque Minarets By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS,Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on minarets on Sunday, barring construction of the iconic mosque towers in a surprise vote that put Switzerland at the forefront of a European backlash against a growing Muslim population.Muslim groups in Switzerland and abroad condemned the vote as biased and anti-Islamic. Business groups said the decision hurt Switzerland's international standing and could damage relations with Muslim nations and wealthy investors who bank, travel and shop there.

Campaign posters from a right-wing Swiss party depict minarets as missiles.

"The Swiss have failed to give a clear signal for diversity, freedom of religion and human rights," said Omar Al-Rawi, integration representative of the Islamic Denomination in Austria, which said its reaction was "grief and deep disappointment."About 300 people turned out for a spontaneous demonstration on the square outside parliament, holding up signs saying, "That is not my Switzerland," placing candles in front of a model of a minaret and making another minaret shape out of the candles themselves."We're sorry," said another sign. A young woman pinned to her jacket a piece of paper saying, "Swiss passport for sale."Skip over this content The referendum by the nationalist Swiss People's Party labeled minarets as symbols of rising Muslim political power that could one day transform Switzerland into an Islamic nation. The initiative was approved 57.5 to 42.5 percent by some 2.67 million voters. Only four of the 26 cantons or states opposed the initiative, granting the double approval that makes it part of the Swiss constitution.Muslims comprise about 6 percent of Switzerland's 7.5 million people. Many are refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and about one in 10 actively practices their religion, the government says.The country's four standing minarets, which won't be affected by the ban, do not traditionally broadcast the call to prayer outside their own buildings.The sponsors of the initiative provoked complaints of bias from local officials and human-rights group with campaign posters that showed minarets rising like missiles from the Swiss flag next to a fully veiled woman. Backers said the growing Muslim population was straining the country "because Muslims don't just practice religion.""The minaret is a sign of political power and demand, comparable with whole-body covering by the burqa, tolerance of forced marriage and genital mutilation of girls," the sponsors said. They said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared mosques to Islam's military barracks and called "the minarets our bayonets." Erdogan made the comment in citing an Islamic poem many years before he became prime minister.Anxieties about growing Muslim minorities have rippled across Europe in recent years, leading to legal changes in some countries. There have been French moves to ban the full-length body covering known as the burqa. Some German states have introduced bans on head scarves for Muslim women teaching in public schools. Mosques and minaret construction projects in Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany and Slovenia have been met by protests.But the Swiss ban in minarets, sponsored by the country's largest political party, was one of the most extreme reactions. read more from AOL News